Yesterday was the last Community of Emmanuel service led by our dear Associate Pastor, Jim Gurnett, who has decided to retire after seven plus years of serving with Inner City Pastoral Ministry. As we began, Pastor Quinn announced Jim's retirement at the end of December, and I suspect that had an impact on Jim's listeners -- what a special service it was! It started with a Land Acknowledgment and Jim's special brand of groan-inducing humour, and once two Advent Candles were lit and those who wanted to smudge had that opportunity, Jim launched into a beautiful reflection on the Canticle of Zechariah.
I have always loved listening to Jim, but his sermon yesterday was exceptionally good, probably because of his unshakeable belief in the words of Zechariah, and because his love for the community shone through more brightly than ever.
At the close of his sermon, Jim used the following words from St. Paul after telling everyone gathered that Paul's words to the Philippians (1:3-11) reflected his own sentiments toward them:
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer,
(here Jim had to pause for a long moment, a bit choked up)
that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Jim then spoke beautifully about the value of community, of caring for one another and helping each other, especially when times are hard.
Jim is truly a community elder, full of kindness, wisdom and generosity, always gentle and encouraging, but also not afraid to speak hard words to the powers that be when injustice rears its head. I'd go so far as to call him a living saint, though I'm sure that would embarrass him.
Jim Gurnett is the man local journalists turn to every time they need news commentary on homelessness -- and he's schooled more than a few politicians -- and me -- about the struggles faced by those living on our streets because they have nowhere else to go due to governmental neglect. And in these past few years, as I've really struggled with my faith, Jim's certainty about God's love and his belief in people in spite of the injustices he always stands against has helped me more than words can say.
Jim will continue with the Community of Emmanuel as a participant rather than a leader. He's leaving the role of associate pastor to me, though I have no hope of ever filling his shoes. I am hopeful that I can be of special assistance to the women of our inner-city community, and anyone else who needs a listening ear. There's a women's group who looks forward to some spiritual input, and I'll continue with music ministry and lead the second service of each month, and meet folks on the streets with my ministry partner, Pastor Quinn, two mornings a week. We work well together, Quinn and I... but I'll miss that third partner, Jim, though he'll still be around whenever I need advice. The Community of Emmanuel is his church.
Another thing I have really appreciated about Jim is his willingness to colour outside the lines when it comes to liturgy. His services often had a show-and-tell quality to them, including little activities or small items shared for people to carry with them to remind them of the day's message. He invited me to sing a Roy Rogers song one Sunday, and yesterday, he asked for a beautiful old hymn that we used to close the service. It was very fitting, as he has called the Community of Emmanuel to gather near the throne of God more than a hundred times over his time of ministry.
Here's a more modern take on Jim's song request. This version of Shall We Gather at the River is a pretty amazing listening experience, especially toward the end. In the video's comments, someone noted that the singers can't hold in their joy at making this music together.
Enjoy! and God bless Jim in his retirement!
